In placing English speaking settlers on former Acadian lands, authorities assumed that the Tantramar would again become an important source of supply for vital agricultural commodities needed to supply the wider region. It is important to note that much of Maritime Canada offered thin rocky and acidic soils and a short growing season. This meant that a broadly based and productive agricultural economy would only emerge in a few areas of the region, in spite of the best efforts of settlers. Agricultural development took on a greater importance in those few districts where nature provided a comparative advantage. The Acadian presence before 1755 had demonstrated that the Tantramar Marshes with their deep rich soils could be one of these productive districts and as the 18th century gave way to the 19th century, those who settled this area were principally engaged in developing a productive agricultural economy and community. Settlers at this location enjoyed one great benefit not generally available to others in the region or in other British North American colonies; they did not have to clear the land of forest. Thus they had immediate and easy access to a land resource, one which had been enhanced by Acadian dyking. But they did not have easy access to markets, nor was there a significant urban centre. Consequently, issues of transportation to markets in Halifax and Saint John, or even to resource harvesting districts such as the Great Woods in the heart of New Brunswick, would pose challenges until shipping connections could be developed through a port at Sackville and late in the 19th century, the building of the Intercolonial Railway. Nevertheless as settlers became farmers, and as the process of learning about the nuances of the marsh environment unfolded, little by little a form of commercial agriculture emerged. By the end of the 19th century Westmorland County was among the largest producers of agricultural produce in the Maritime region, and this output came principally from the Tantramar Marshes. In this section we explore some of the steps leading to the formation of this vibrant agricultural community.

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